Blues' players urged to respond to title-race pressure with the mental strength of the Swedish and Ivorian superstar strikers

Special ones: Mourinho knew how Drogba and Ibrahimovic would respond at key times (Photo: Jamie McDonald)

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Jose Mourinho is ready to crank up the pressure in a bid to bring out the killer instinct in his Chelsea players like he did with Didier Drogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, writes Ian Winrow.

The Blues' manager admits he is still working on the mentality of his squad to instil the ruthless edge that marks out champions.

And with Mourinho insistent the title race is a six-way contest, he believes the manager who masters the mind games with his players will eventually come out on top.

The manager - whose side are at Sunderland on Wednesday - said: "I like to put pressure on them, yes, but you have to analyse the players you're working with.

"I gave Didier as an example. When I put real pressure on him, the animal was always coming out.

"Ibrahimovic at Inter - exactly the same. When I put real pressure on him, I knew that the answer was coming.

"It depends on the players' profiles. Some react in a very good way. Some don't. I have players who have told me not to criticise them in front of the other guys because, 'It's not good for my self-esteem.' I've had everything.

Mourinho admits he needs to fire things up at Stamford Bridge as it's three years since Chelsea were last English champions.

He added: "One of the things is to make the pressure of fighting for the title to be something natural, something that players accept in a positive way, not in a negative way.

"We have here some people who won the title before, but they've not won it for quite a long time. When you don't do that for quite a long time, you forget it.

"We've also got players who were playing in clubs not used to fighting for titles, clubs who'd do fantastic one day and see what would happen the next.

"That pressure to try and be top of the league, knowing that every little detail and every point can make a difference."

But the Portuguese has also turned up the heat on Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City, insisting they should be clear favourites for the title.

He said: "The squad is absolutely amazing. They have solutions and solutions and solutions.

"If you ask me which team has more ammunition, I have to try and be honest. I have to apologise to the others in case they're not happy with what I say, but City are the team with more ammunition."